


Reasonable Assumptions

by SpiritLily



Category: Sherlock (TV) RPF
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Fluff, Romance, appearances by assorted real life people, cumbersmut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-13
Updated: 2014-06-10
Packaged: 2018-01-19 07:22:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1460728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiritLily/pseuds/SpiritLily
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elly wakes to a world that she does not know, in the bed of Benedict Cumberbatch, unsure as to how she got there and why he's acting like they are in a long term relationship.  She has no idea who she is or why she's there.  She can't remember anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Breathe

She’s running fast, legs pumping hard, trying to get away. Fear spikes in her chest. She has to get away. Her lungs are burning, ready to burst. She has to keep moving, if she stops she’s dead. No time for tears even though she can feel them welling up inside her. She needs to breathe, focus, RUN!

She jerks awake gasping, sits up, and puts her face in her hands. She’s shaking and terrified. She tries to calm her breathing, as the last wisps of the nightmare fade. She looks around. Wait, this isn’t her room. It isn’t a room she knows, has ever seen before. What the fuck! she thinks. Shit what is going on? Where am I?

“Hey, you ok?”, says a deep voice, gravelly from sleep. A hand touches her back and she jumps. 

I’m naked, rebounds through her mind.

She turns her head, and is again reeling. Holy shit what is happening?

It’s Benedict Cumberbatch, the UK actor. He reaches out and pulls her into a hug. She sees an orange glow over his shoulder, sees the orange reflecting off porcelain. Bathroom! She pulls back and says, “I just need to run to the bathroom.” 

She jumps out of bed and runs for the safety of the bathroom. She turns as she closes the and sees Benedict looking at her, puzzled. She gets the door closed and quickly locks it. Leans her forehead against the door, closes her eyes, and takes a breath. She blindly feels along the edge of the wall by the door. Her hand touches the light switch and she turns it on. She lifts her head, and turns to look around. There’s a mirror to her left and when she looks there’s a blond woman looking back at her. She stumbles back, watching the woman in the mirror do the same. The back of her legs hit the edge of the bathtub and she falls back, barely managing to stay upright. Fuck am I going mad? She sits on the edge and with elbows on her knees, she leans down and puts her head in her hands, covering her eyes. She can feel her heart racing, her mind ready to explode. Some part of her mind recognizes it as a panic attack. She forces everything out of her mind, and concentrates on her breathing, getting herself calm. 

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Long slow breaths, says a vaguely familiar voice in the back of her mind.

She focuses on her breathing, blocking out everything else. Slowly she calms down, and stays that way for a few more minutes, forcing herself to relax. When she feels she is calm enough, she slowly lets one image at a time into her mind, getting familiar with it, then moving to the next image. When she can think about everything clearly, she slowly pulls her hands back keeping her eyes keeping them closed. She takes a deep breath, swallows, and opens her eyes, looking down. At first, the light is bright, hurting her eyes, but as they adjust she sees herself. She’s looking down at her body, it doesn’t look like her body. So far from the dumpy, middle-aged body she’s used to seeing. Panic threatens to overwhelm her again, and she deep breathes a few times. She looking at her arms and hands, and then she spots it, the scar she got on her arm from the rose bush she fell into a few years ago. The familiarity of the scar relaxes her, and she can look at herself more rationally now. She’s still naked, she’s looking at the taught body of a younger woman, but she knows it’s her own. She sees the scars and markings she has always had. She stands, keeping her eyes down, and walks to the counter and sink, stands for a moment or two, then slowly looks at the mirror, she sees the same young blond woman, and the room swims for a moment. She closes her eyes and deep breathes through the panic. Calm again, she slowly opens her eyes and looks again.

It seems so surreal, looking at an unfamiliar face in the mirror. She continues to study the face, and then she sees it. The faint scar on her forehead from a fall as a child, this bit of reality makes the surreal feeling disappear as she starts spotting the familiar things about her face, brown eyes with that odd little dark spot in her left eye, the hairline, the line of her lips. She stands studying herself in the mirror, wondering why her face was changed so drastically. She can see that she looks quite young. She figures probably somewhere between 30 and 32. Why?

She frowns. The last thing she can remember is walking into the bank where she works to start her morning shift. That’s it. Nothing else. Odd.

The knock at the door startles her.

“Elly, you ok?”, says the deep voice.

Why is he calling her Elly, and what does she do about him? How did she end up in his bed?

Well she can’t stay in there forever. She takes a breath, swallows, walks to the door, and unlocks and opens it. Benedict is standing there completely naked. She can’t help it, her eyes slide all the way down and back up. God he’s so gorgeous. She’s lusted after this man for a long time, but knew he was too young for her. She sees the slow crooked smile that is his trademark smile. He’s sexy as hell.

She smiles up at him, and says, “I’m fine. Just needed the bathroom.”

He smiles and leans down and pecks her lips lightly. 

“Alright, love.” 

He turns and goes back to the bed, moving with easy grace. She admires the back view, then shakes herself and turns off the light and heads back to the bed.  
Benedict is laying in bed waiting for her. He’s not even covered up. His impossibly long legs stretched out, one arm behind his head. He has a naughty smile on his face. She enjoys the view as she moves around the other side of the bed and slides in. He’s looking at her and reaches up, pulling her into a heated kiss.

It is exquisite to be able to kiss him, to see him like this. He pushes her back on the bed, and she realizes they’re about to make love. She can’t. She doesn’t even know what is happening. There’s too much to comprehend right now. She pulls back, smiling shyly, “I’m sorry, I’m just tired, and …”, she trails off. He smiles, “Alright love.”

He lays back and pulls her to his chest. She lays her head there, and tries to relax. He reaches down and pulls the blankets up, kisses her forehead, and murmurs, “Goodnight, love” in that deep baritone. She lays there listening to his breathing as he drifts off to sleep. Now she has some time to think.

Her mind is still reeling from this and she’s wondering why Benedict keeps calling her Elly. That isn’t her name. Why does he act like they’re in a relationship? Why can’t she remember anything after walking into the bank? She sighs frustrated, rolls over and runs her hand through her hair. Her fingers brush over an unfamiliar bump. Frowning she finds it again and explores it. It feels like some kind of cut, but she never had that before. Where did it come from? Is that why she can’t remember anything?

Her mind continues to cycle through these questions as her eyes grow heavy and finally close. She sleeps deeply, barely stirring at the slide of a long arm around her.


	2. Explore

Elly’s eyes slowly opened and the previous night crashed over her. She sat up quickly, looking around. She was alone in the bed now. She frowned as she looked around the room. There were women’s clothes thrown over a chair in the corner, shoes kicked under the chair, and a purse sitting on the chest of drawers. They were all the type of things she would like and buy. She slid from the bed and walked over to the clothes, touching them lightly, looking at the labels. They were her size but certainly far more expensive than anything she would ever be able to afford. The shoes were her size as well. There was a closet door beside the chest of drawers and she walked over and opened it. It was a walk-in closet and it was full of women’s clothes. She checked some and saw that they were her size so they probably all were. There were more shoes on the floor in her size too. 

Okay so clearly she was living with Benedict, but how could she not remember something like that.

Realizing she was cold she moved to the bathroom she had escaped to the night before, and reaching for the light switch paused getting herself ready for the sight of “new” self in the mirror. Flipping the light on she walked in and closed the door, not looking directly in the mirror. Elly moved to the shower and turned it on adjusting the temperature before stepping in. She let the water rain over her neck and shoulders, and rolled her head, loosening the tense muscles. She had to be alert today to not give away her lack of memory and figure what the hell was going on?

When she was done showering, she stepped from the shower and grabbed a towel, dried off, and wrapped it around herself. Emerging from the bathroom she moved to the chest of drawers opening all the drawers to gage what was in them. Finding pants, bra, and socks she pulled those out intending on putting on jeans and t-shirt and having a good look around the flat to see what she could find that would tell her about who she was. Elly… odd. That wasn’t her real name, it was Maggie, But clearly Benedict knew her a Maggie. She opened the closet door and was just reaching for a pair of jeans when long arms slid around her form behind. “Good morning, beautiful!”, said the baritone voice right by her ear. She jumped, just managing not to scream, and turned her head to see that gorgeous face very close hers. Benedict was smiling, and looking at her with deep adoration. Elly swallowed her eyes drawn to his lips. She turned slowly putting her hands on his chest, still unable to tear her eyes away from those soft, full lips. He leaned down and kissed her slowly. She couldn’t help it, she moaned, sliding her arms around his shoulders as he pulled her against him deepening the kiss, his tongue touching her bottom lip making her gasp. He took advantage of her open mouth and slid in, tasting her, making her moan again. Her head was swirling with passion, she was pressing herself hard against him. He broke the kiss, pulling back to cup the side of her face in one large hand. He was smiling, “Have I told you today that I love you?” His thumb caressing her cheek. She smiled, overwhelmed with all the emotions clambering around inside her. He dropped a kiss on her forehead, and pulled back.

“I’d love to stay here with you, love, but I have to be at the studios soon.”

Just as he said that there was a knock on the door.

“That will be the PA coming to make sure I keep on time.” He smiled, moving across the bedroom to the door. She noticed he was wearing the grey bridge t-shirt along with the black jeans, and white converse sneakers she’d seen so many photos of him in. He stopped at the bedroom door, turned and winked, saying, “See you tonight love” and then he was out of the room. She could hear his voice and the female voice of his PA as she instructed him that there was a car waiting downstairs and they best get moving or they’d be late. A few moments later the door closed and the flat was quiet. She was alone in the flat.

She turned, grabbed the jeans she had been reaching for and walked out of the closet, took a t-shirt from the chest of drawers, and set them on the bed along with bra, pants, and socks she had grabbed earlier. Then took a bottle of body lotion from the top of the chest and pulling off the towel smoothed it all over herself. Finished she was reaching for the pants and bra when she stopped as it hit her. Benedict and his PA just went to the studio! That meant she was in England. She sat heavily on the bed, stunned. When the hell did she leave Canada. How did she end up in the UK living in Benedict’s flat. With her mind reeling from this latest revelation, she didn’t hear the ringing of a phone right away. After the third ring, she realized a phone was indeed ringing. She looked around the room, the ringing was coming from the purse on the floor. She grabbed the bag, plopped it on the bed, and opening it she saw the iPhone. She grabbed it quickly, and seeing a picture of Benedict on the screen, quickly answered, “Hello?”

“Hi, sweetheart. You wanted me to remind of your appointment this afternoon with Dr. Strauss. Just make sure you grab the card you need from the desk, ok?”

“Oh, oh yes, of course, hun.”

Pause. “Hey are you ok, love?”

Swallowing convulsively she said,”Yes, yes, I’m …. I’m fine.”

Another pause. “Listen if you’re not up to it today you can always call and reschedule the appointment.”

“No, no really I’m fine. I’m just ……”

“Yes?….”

“I’ll be fine, love. Really.”

“Hey I can come home if you want me to.”

“It’s okay, hun, really. Now you better go before they miss you.”

“Alright. I’ll see you tonight then, love.”

She hung up, breathing a sigh of relief. Well apparently she had an appointment with a doctor today. She’d best get dressed and figure out where, and when exactly that appointment was.

She dressed quickly, and then sat on the bed, took everything out of the purse. She needed to know some basic information here.

 

Elly sat on a high stool in the kitchen, leaning on the counter, sipping a cup of tea. Her search through the purse and then the flat had gleaned enough information to get started on. What she found was the her name was Elizabeth Grant. She had some pieces of ID from Canada that were outdated but her new name, statistics, and such. She also had a UK passport and other ID, credit cards, and other assorted cards that were all UK as well. She also found some photos (although there weren’t many), and other papers. But she was relieved to have found the appointment card for Dr. Strauss. It had the address on it which made her feels immeasurably better about that, although she was wondering what the appointment was for. She would have to deal with that later.

Right now, this was what she knew. Her birthdate had changed. Even on the old Canadian ID it wasn’t her real birthdate. She knew she was actually born in 1965 and all the ID and papers she could find said that she was born in 1980. That was 15 years difference. She knew she looked younger, but how had all her ID changed. She stood, walked to the sink, rinsed her cup, and set it in the sink. She had found the balcony that overlooked London and knew it was because she could see the Eye over to one side in the distance. She walked to the couch and sat, pulling on her converse sneakers.

She stood, walking to the window, and looked out, frowning, and lost in thought. So it was a reasonable assumption that her real identity had been either covered up, erased, or she was on a missing persons list somewhere. She’d have to do more investigating to figure out what was happening.

Her phone rang, startling her once again. She answered without looking at the display, “Hello.”

“Hello, Ms. Grant. This is Madeleine from Dr. Strauss’ office. “

“Yes.”

“I’m just calling to remind you of your appointment at 1 p.m. today for your monthly shots.”

She frowned, Shots!. “Yes. Of course. I’ll be there.”

“Great. See you then.” 

There was click as she hung up. Well! What kind of shots was she getting the required her to have them monthly?

As for the nightmare that woke her, she only remembered the feeling of absolute terror. She shivered at the memory of it. She looked at the clock on her phone and saw that it was nearing 11 a.m. She had no idea how far away Dr. Strauss’ office was. She brought up a map on her phone, and typed in the address for the office. It pinpointed it for her and then she realized she had no idea where she was right now. She quickly picked current location and used the hybrid map. She waited a few moments and then the map with her current location came up. She discovered she was actually quite close to Hampstead Heath. She remembered reading that Benedict had grown up swimming in the ponds there. She quickly tapped again and brought up directions and driving time. So about 5 miles and would take about 17 minutes in current traffic. Maybe she could walk it. She checked. Fuck! It was at least an hour and a half walk. So taxi it is then.

She stood there unsure what to do until her appointment. Well she could walk around where she was living and get an accurate idea of the neighbourhood. She checked the temperature. Yeah better take a light jacket. Elly grabbed her purse, and a jacket that was her size and left the flat. She closed the flat door, and looked around. Well this was the only flat on this floor. It was nice and spacious, but not huge. There were stairs leading down. None up. So they lived on the top floor. She took the stairs to the next floor, stopped and checked. Hmmm! only one flat on this floor too. She took the stairs to the next floor down. It was the main floor. Again only one flat. She looked out the main door and saw a quiet, treelined residential street. Just then the door of the main floor flat opened, and out walked Tom Hiddleston. She was stunned. He saw her and smiled, “Hi, Elly.”

“H-hi.” she squeaked.

He laughed, and closed the door behind him, and strolled over to her and said,” I’ve known for long enough, Elly, that I would have thought you’d be a little more comfortable around me by now.”

She smiled, and swallowed. God she was really never going to hear the end of this from Benedict when he heard. And she was sure he would.

“Is Ben at the studio today?”

“Yes, his PA came and got him this morning.”

“She’s a saint putting up with him constantly running late. If it weren’t for her, he’d be late for everything.”

Elly laughed. Tom smiled, patted her shoulder, and looking at his watch said, “Well I must be going. See you later. Say Hi to Ben for me.”

“Yes I will.”

He waved and was out the door. She took a deep breath, and let it out. Wow. Tom Hiddleston lives here too. 

 

Out on the walkway, Elly stood and looked back at the building. It was actually a house. So it must have been converted to flats. Tom lived on the main floor, and she and Ben lived on the top floor. She wondered who lived on the floor in between. She could just see the edge of a deck that looked like it covered the entire roof of the house. She hadn’t seen a door that she could recall going up there. She’d have to explore that later. Shouldering her purse, and turning from the building she scanned up and down the street they were on. There was no traffic at the moment. She wondered where Tom had gone so quickly. Maybe he’d had a taxi waiting for him when he left. There were some vehicles parked along both sides of the street. She debated for a moment and then turned left and proceeded to explore.


	3. Feel

A/N: There be smut here.

Elly arrived at Dr. Strauss’ office a little breathless. She had not watched the time while she was exploring the neighbourhood around their house. She had gone two blocks when she realized that she had no idea what the address of the house was. So she had to go back to her phone and check the address on the map. There was an address thankfully. So she explored and lost track of time and when she looked at the time she was horrified to realize she had 20 minutes to get to the appointment. She had wanted to be earlier than that.

Breathless, she burst through the door, and Madeleine looked up and smiled, shaking her head. Ok so apparently she did this regularly.

“The doctor will be with you soon.”

“Okay thanks.”

Elly sat, catching her breath. She was nervous now wondering what the appointment would bring.

“Ok you can come in Elizabeth.” Madeleine was holding a door open by her office. She got up and walked through, following down a hallway, and into an examination room. Madeleine closed the door. Elly took off her jacket, hanging it on the back of the chair, dropped her purse on the floor beside her and sat waiting. A few moments later, Dr. Strauss came in. He was an older man, she guessed in his 60’s at least. He smiled, and closed the door. Elly saw the syringe he had with him.

“How are you today Elizabeth?”

“Alright I guess.”

He looked at her and frowned a little, “You guess?”

“I didn’t sleep well last night. That’s all.” she said trying to shrug off the question.

“Mmm, I see.”

With that the doctor, turned, grabbed the syringe, uncapped it, and walked over to Elly. She swallowed, nervous. He lifted a sleeve of her t-shirt, wiped it with an alcohol swab, and pushed in the syringe. When it was done, he recapped it, broke the needle off, and dumped it in a Bio-hazard container where they put used syringes. He turned, “So what kept you from sleeping?”

Damn he was going to pursue this.

“Just a nightmare.” She was hoping he’d leave it alone.

He frowned, studying her. “Did you wake with a headache this morning?”

“N-no.”  
He nodded, still frowning. “Come to my office.” He walked to the door opening it, and Elly grabbed purse and jacket and followed. They walked to the end of the hallway and entered a rather spacious office with big windows. She moved to sit in a chair in front of his desk. He picked up his phone, “Madeleine would you get Richard on the line and put it through to my office please.”

He hung up, looked at Elly again, studying her. This was getting weird and a little creepy. Why was a nightmare being treated with such seriousness.

“Do you remember anything from that nightmare?”

“Just that I was really terrified and running.”

Dr. Strauss nodded again. His phone rang and he picked it up.

“Richard, Greg Strauss here. Can you come to my office right away?”

Pause. “Good, I’ll see in a few minutes.”

He hung up the phone and looked at Elly.

“Would you like some tea?”

“Yes, thanks. Tea would be lovely.”

He picked up his phone again and asked Madeleine to bring them tea. A few moments later, she came bustling into the silent office carrying two mugs of tea. She sent them down on the desk with a quick smile at Elly and just as quickly left. Elly’s nervousness was getting worse as the silence stretched on. She grabbed her cup from the desk and sipped, letting her mind wander back to all that had happened so far. Things were just getting weirder all the time. She was brought back from her reverie when the office door opened, “Greg, I came as quick as I could.”

“Thank you Richard.”

Richard moved to the chair beside Elly and sat looking at her. She fidgeted feeling very uncomfortable now. She wanted to jump out of the chair and run.

“Elly”, said Richard,”how much do you remember from your life?”

She frowned, thinking it an odd question.

 

Two hours later, a dazed Elly is escorted from the building that Dr. Strauss’ office is in by Richard. She still doesn’t know his last name, probably never will. He puts her into a waiting taxi and instructs the driver to take her home, handing him some cash.

When she’s dropped off at the house again, she’s still dazed. She walks to the door, and stops, turning towards the street but not really seeing it, and sits down on the small step. Her mind is reeling, not from panic, but from the story she was told by both Richard and her doctor. The shots she gets at Dr. Strauss’ is some kind of hormone therapy. It keeps her looking and feeling young. Not only that but these shots also literally make all her internal organs younger too. She is completely a young woman again. That part she was alright with, she’d heard about this therapy before. They informed her of the surgeries that were done to change her appearance, how she ended up in Benedict’s life, and why they had to do these things. And it was the why that had her reeling. My god the why!

Benedict knew nothing of this as she suspected. She couldn’t ever tell anyone. Besides her only Richard and Dr. Strauss knew the full story. They were the only ones she would be able to turn to. She didn’t want Benedict to end up involved in any of this, but they’d told her she had to stay with him. She would be safe if she stayed with him. Did they know something she didn’t? Why would she be safe staying with him if he knew nothing of what was happening? 

She sat thinking about it all for awhile before finally stirring and going inside and up to their flat. The clock showed that it was just going on 5. Just then her phone alerted her to a text. She checked. It was from Ben.

Won’t be back until late. - Bxx

She quickly texted back. Alright hun.

Hey what’s with the “hun” all the sudden. -Bxx

Just trying out a different nickname. I can stop if you don’t like it.

I love it. It kind of took me by surprise today that’s all. You can keep using it. - Bxx

She smiled and texted kisses, then put her phone down, and went to the kitchen to see about her own dinner.

Afterwards, she went back and looked at the papers she’d found that morning. They made a little more sense now, before they’d seemed so random that she hadn’t given them a second thought. She still didn’t actually remember any of what the men had told her, but she felt sure that they were telling her the truth. Dr. Strauss assured her that in time her memory would come back. Neither man really told her why she had the memory lapse though. She knew that the nightmare had alerted them. Was the nightmare something real from her past? That was a scary thought the made her shiver. Her mind kept cycling around the story the men had told her and the questions she still had. The sun slid slowly across the sky as she lost herself in her thoughts. She only realized how late it was getting when she shivered, feeling cold. She broke out of her thoughts, realized it was indeed late, closed the balcony door and locked it, and headed for the bathroom.

The hot shower warmed her up and relaxed her, making her feel tired. She had so many things to think about and deal with. She pulled on pajamas and crawled into bed, curled up, and slept.

 

When she felt the slide of a long arm around her and a warm body pressed against her back, she didn’t hesitate. She turned over facing Ben. His eyes were open and looking at her and he was smiling. She moved in and kissed him. She pressed soft kiss after soft kiss on his lips, just enjoying the feel, seeing what he liked. One large hand slid into her hair as Ben deepened the kiss, taking her breath away. When she felt his tongue slide softly against her bottom lip she moaned letting him in. Her arms slid around his shoulders as he pressed her back into the mattress. Her fingers slid through his curly hair while the other hand slid across the soft, smooth skin of his back, feeling the muscles shift as he moved.

His hand slid under her pajama top, caressing her skin and lighting her nerve endings on fire. She pressed closer against him, hearing his low moan. They broke the kiss long enough to lift her top over her head, then resumed the kiss. The skin on skin contact was heady, exciting. A large hand was caressing her breast, teasing the nipple, making her moan as her leg slid up over his hip, trying to press closer against him. He pressed kisses along cheek, and down her neck, humming. She tilted her head back, her breath was catching and sighing with pleasure. Open mouthed kisses were pressed against her collarbone and along the curve of her left breast. When Elly felt the wet heat surround her nipple, tongue circling and flicking before sucking, she let out a small cry arching her back to press against Ben’s mouth, making him suck harder. She felt the heat pooling at her center, making her ache for him. Her hips rocked against him feeling his hard length pressing between her legs. 

She needed all their clothes off now. She reached down, pushing his silk boxers down. He lifted his hips letting her push them down as far as she could reach. He sat up quickly pulling them off the rest of the way, and then he turned and pulled her pajama bottoms off before pulling her into a heated kiss. He pulled her against him, lifting her thigh over his hip, making her feel how hot and hard he was pressing against her wet, aching sex.

She gasped as she felt his long fingers slide between her legs, caressing the sensitive nub there. She was faintly aware of the most incredible sounds of pleasure echoing around the room, and she realized that was herself, as he continued to caress that bud. When his mouth moved from her lips to her other nipple, she cried out, “Oh god, Ben.” She could feel the heat pooling tighter in her. She knew she was close.

She managed to hold herself off long enough to flip Ben on his back, straddling his hips, seeing the look of surprise on his face before she bent down to ravage those full lips. She pressed kisses on his neck, collarbones, chest, and moved lower until she was at one nipple. Her tongue circling and flicking as he moaned, then suddenly sucked hard making him groan deep in his chest. She moved to the other nipple teasing it as well, then sucking hard. Ben was starting to writhe under her, letting out deep moans of pleasure. Her lips moved lower across his taut stomach and her tongue followed the trail of hair from his navel down, as she slid between his thighs. She pressed open-mouthed kisses on his hips as her hands stroked along the inside of his thighs, sliding higher, teasing him. Her mouth moved lower and sucked each of his balls in turn, making him moan louder. Then without warning she flicked her tongue across the tip of his aching cock, then slowly circled the head, tasting him before she slid her hot mouth down his length making him gasp and groan deeply. She worked her mouth up and down his hot, hard sex, sucking hard on each slide up, earning more deep groans. She caressed his balls, as he writhed helplessly, then slid her fingers back and pressed against his perineum, he cried out, his back arching, his head thrown back bucking as her other hand held his hips down. When he was close to the edge, she pulled off him. Then she slid up his body until she was straddling him again, and kissed him deep and hard.

His arms slid around her and he flipped her onto her back quickly, moving between her thighs without breaking the kiss. She wrapped her legs around him, and then his hard length was sliding into her making cry out and arch up taking him deeper, her muscles tightening around his aching cock, feeling hot pleasure surging through her. She heard him muffle a groan in her shoulder and then he started thrusting, slowly at first, but then moving faster and harder as her cries of pleasure echoed around the room, mingling with his. Heat was pooling at her center, her muscles tightening even more around his cock, as she bucked wildly under him, feeling herself getting closer to the edge. Then she gasped, arching her back, head thrown back, screaming out her orgasm, as pleasure flashed white hot through her body. Her muscles spasmed around his cock pushing him over the edge, crying out as he spilt deep inside her. Her inner muscles continued to spasm around his length as she moaned, her hands on his arse keeping him deep inside her. He kissed her softly until she relaxed under him, her hands sliding up his back, letting her legs slide from around him. He pulled out of her and moved to lay beside her pulling her to his chest. They lay that way for awhile catching their breath before Ben reached down to pull the blankets over them both. They fell into a deep sleep, staying in each others arms.

A/N: The hormone therapy mentioned in this chapter is a real therapy that is as yet in it’s testing stage. They don’t yet know the long term effects of it, so we will probably not see it on the market for quite a while. It would take years to know the full effects. It does, apparently, make your body younger inside and out, however, it does not cure any illness, not even arthritis. For this story, it is a tested and proven therapy.


	4. Revelation

Previous chapter:  
They fell into a deep sleep, staying in each others arms.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Elly awoke the next day, stretched, feeling the slight soreness from the nights activities, and smiled. She rolled over to find the other side of the bed empty. She knew Ben would be at the studio again today, but she felt a little disappointed that hadn’t woken to say good-bye. She decided to get up and shower anyway, and then figure out what she needed to do.

She showered and dressed, and wandered out to the kitchen and had toast and tea. Then wandered into the living room and decided to check out the multitude of books on the shelves. Elly discovered quite a few books that must be Ben’s because they weren’t really the kind of books she liked to read. She came across some books that were the same ones she’d had in her previous life. She took one and opened it, checking the inside cover where she had always put a little symbol in pen that only she would know. It didn’t have that symbol, but she went back and checked all the books on the shelves to see if any had that symbol. It was what she always had used and it was odd that none had it in them.

She stopped short when she came across several books by an author with her present name. She opened the book, and looked at the back cover, and there was a picture of herself staring back. She read the brief bio below the picture. It said that she was born in Canada and was now residing in England with actor and long time partner, Benedict Cumberbatch. Ok well that explained a few things. So if she was an author then she must have a publisher here in London who knew her, and possibly were expecting another book from her.  
She checked inside the front of the book and found the publisher’s name, and it was a London address. She needed more information. She went to the office where she had seen a desktop computer. She sat, turned it on, and waited for it to boot up. She looked out the window at the city spread out beneath her, thinking for a few minutes.

When she turned the computer was on and the background picture was a picture of her. It looked like it was taken by the ponds on Hampstead Heath. 

Ok, she thought, apparently this is Ben’s computer. 

She wouldn’t have a picture of herself on a computer she used. She checked the program files, and other than some of Ben’s financial stuff she didn’t find anything of hers. Next, she searched for the publisher and came up with a little bit more information, but still not much.

She turned off the computer, and sat thinking. The only option would be to go to the publisher and see what she could come up with. And why can’t she remember any of this life.

Frustrated she got up and walked around the desk, and that’s when she spotted it. The picture on the wall wasn’t hanging quite right. She went over and touched the edge and it swung back revealing a safe behind it. She decided it wasn’t of importance at this point. It was probably used for a few things that Ben wanted to keep in the flat. She moved it back til it was flush with the wall, and turned to walk away when her knee hit an edge. She cursed, and turned to glare at the offending edge and saw a laptop sitting on the shelf plugged into a charger.

She unplugged it, took it to the desk, sat down, and booted it up. It didn’t take long, and she saw that the background picture was one of her and Ben. They were facing each other, and laughing, their arms around one another. Behind them seemed to be a park. It was odd, because she recognized the park. It was one she used to visit a lot in her former life, but she looked like she does now. This was very odd indeed. How was it that she and Ben had been in that park? And, if they were in the picture, who took it? It was obvious that the person who took the picture had been standing right there. She decided to leave that for the moment, and see what she could find out later. She checked through the files on the laptop and found saved versions of all the books she had written. The same ones that were on the shelves in the living room. She opened a few and quickly scanned hoping that something would twig her memory. No such luck. She found some of her own financial stuff too. She checked that to see what she could glean from them. She was glad to see that she at least made a decent living on the books anyway. There was a folder she noticed that just said, “My Folder”. She figured it was probably the current story she was working on, but clicked on it anyway. She was shocked to discover that it was password protected. 

That’s odd. I wouldn’t bother password protecting a current story. she thought.

She tried a few passwords that she normally used in her old life, but none of them worked. She’d have to think about that and see if she could come up with some passwords she might have used. She shut down the laptop, placed it on the shelf, and went back to the living room and resumed her search through the rest of the books. Just at the last shelf on the bottom, she spotted something behind the rest of the books. She pulled out some books and reached in and pulled out a book. It was an old leatherbound volume of Shakespeare. She blew the dust off it. Could it have just gotten pushed behind when putting a book on the shelf? Maybe. She opened the book to check the inside anyway, thinking it was probably Ben’s. There in the bottom left had corner was her symbol she used in pen. So why was it in one book that looked like one that would be Ben’s and not any of the others that she knew must be hers. She frowned, absently running her fingers over the paper covering the inside cover and stopped eyes wide. She felt a ridge, there was something behind there.

She gingerly worked the edge with her fingernail. It came loose slowly. She worked patiently until she had enough loosened to pull the paper back and see what was underneath. She saw the corner of a photo, and managed to grab it and pull it out.

It was a picture of her old self, standing at the reception desk in the bank she used to work in. She frowned. Why would she keep this picture? Yes it was a picture of her old self, but why keep it and risk someone, even Ben, finding it. She took the picture to a window to look at it closer. And then she saw it. In the background, out of focus there was someone standing behind her and just a bit out of frame. There was only a part of the face there, but she knew that face. She felt a horrible sinking feeling, and swallowed convulsively. 

Holy shit!

She staggered over to the couch and dropped on it, breathing hard. What the hell was she going to do? She was panting like she’d been running, the cold fingers of sheer terror curling around her, as her memory came back to her.

Just then she heard a key turning in the lock of the flat door. She launched herself off the couch, grabbed the book, stuffed the picture back under the cover, and closing it, shoved it back behind the other books. She quickly put the other books in front, and stood and turned just in time to see Ben come around the corner.

“Hello, love. We have a couple days off while they get ready to start shooting, so I thought we could get out of the city and have some time to ourselves.”

“Oh, that sounds great.” She couldn’t quite manage to sound cheerful enough, and Ben noticed.

He walked over, saying, “Hey, you okay?”

Elly swallowed, nodding, and the suddenly blurted out, “I had a nightmare, and I can’t seem to shake it.”

Ben pulled her into a hug, and rubbed her back slowly. It took a while but she finally started to relax. She remembered Dr. Strauss and Richard telling she would be safe if she stayed with Ben. She knew now that she had to stay with Ben. Not just because she would be safe, but because she knew without a doubt that she loved him. At last, she pulled back enough to look up at Ben and smiled, “Thank you, darling.”

He pretended to pout and said, “I was just beginning to like ‘hun’.”

Elly laughed, and kissed him, and said, “Well if we’re going to have a couple days to ourselves, let’s get packed and get out of here before they change their minds.”

Ben chuckled and they moved to the bedroom to quickly pack. Once done, Elly grabbed her purse, and bag and followed Ben out to the flat door. She stopped, and set down her bag, and was rifling through her purse.

“What are you looking for love.”

“I can’t find my wallet. I must have left it in the bedroom. I’ll just grab it and be right out.”

“Ok love. I’ll take the bags to the car. Just come down when you’re done.”

“Sure…..hun.”

Ben turned and smirked. Elly laughed, and smacked his arm playfully. She kissed him quick and turned and ran back to the bedroom.

Yes there it was on the chest of drawers where she’d left it yesterday. She grabbed it and moved back towards the flat door. She spotted her mobile on the kitchen counter and grabbed it, automatically checking it as she headed out the door and locked it. It showed a missed call. Probably Ben trying to get hold of her and tell her about the time off and such. She stuffed it in her purse and moved quickly down the stairs. She emerged from the house and headed to Ben’s car, as he closed the boot. They jumped in, starting the car, they both smiled happily as they headed off for their time together.  
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A/N: Thank you everyone for your reviews, kudos, and follows. The real action, and adventure begins next chapter. Enjoy!


	5. On The Move

Previously: She emerged from the house and headed to Ben’s car, as he closed the boot. They jumped in, starting the car, they both smiled happily as they headed off for their time together. 

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It seemed weird to Elly to be able to remember both her past life and present life at the same time. This was something she hadn’t been able to do before.

Of the things that Dr. Strauss and Richard had told her was that her memories of the past had been temporarily suppressed to allow her to heal physically and mentally. The nightmares and slight headaches would mean that all the memories were coming back. Well they had come back and all at once. It has been overwhelming to have all these memories flooding her mind, and scary too. She remembered both Richard and Dr. Strauss and what part they played in her life. Richard was the watcher, only intervening if he needed to. Dr. Strauss was to watch her mental and physical state, easier done now that she knew she could talk with him about anything, past and present.

Elly was brought out of her reverie by a sudden jolt. A car had cut Ben off suddenly and he’d had to slam on the brakes.

“Okay?” he glanced at her.

“Yeah, fine.”

He started the car moving again, glancing at her one more time but saying nothing. They drove in silence until they were out of the city. It was once they were in the country that Ben spoke again, not needing to concentrate as much on the driving.

“So what are you thinking so deeply about?”

“Oh nothing really.” 

Ben had no idea about her past life and she knew she needed to keep it that way. She did wonder why Richard and Dr. Strauss were so adamant that she would be safe with Ben. It was like they were keeping her in the dark about something. And she was sure there was something more, she only knew her part of the story and not theirs.

“Hey there you go again.” he gently chided.

“Sorry, I just have some things to think about, I guess.” she smiled at Ben, trying to look cheerful.

“Okay, love.”

They drove for a bit in silence, then Ben broke it again.

“So are you having second thoughts about what we’re doing with the house?”

With the house? she thought, then remembered. Oh…..oh right…. The house.

Of course, she had forgotten that they had bought the flat below them and were going to have the two floors built into one space for themselves. She remembered then too that Tom had offered to sell them his main floor flat so they could renovate the whole house. They had accepted and they had agreed to wait until Tom had found another flat before they scheduled any renos. The one thing they had done was gone to an architect to have a plan drawn up for the whole house to become one again. She smiled at the lovely thought of the whole house being theirs again. It would be delightful.

“I’ve been putting out a few feelers for good flats for Tom, and I think I might have found one for him close by.” Ben said as if reading her thoughts.

She smiled, “Really? That would be fantastic. You would both love that.”

Ben smiled sheepishly, and said, “ I was thinking of buying it for him.”

Elly turned and looked at Ben, eyes wide, “Really?”

“That is if that’s okay with you.” he glanced at her quickly and then back to the road.

She smiled, “Of course it is. You’re such a sweetheart. He’ll protest, of course.”

“I know but I know he can’t really afford this one, but it is perfect.”

“I trust your judgement hun.”

He quirked a smile at her, “I knew you’d be okay with that.”

Ben’s mobile rang just then, and he pulled over and answered it. Elly watched his smile swiftly disappear and be replaced with a frown. She could only hear his side of the conversation but it didn’t sound good. Whatever it was about it was way more serious than being called back to the studio. In fact, she was pretty that wasn’t what was happening. Ben finally hung up, and running his hand over his face, sighed heavily. He was silent for a few minutes, then turned to look at Elly.

“That was Moffat. Apparently the Sherlock set blew up. There’s investigators there now, and they think it was a bomb.”

Elly gasped, eyes going wide in shock, “Oh my god, was anyone hurt?”

“No thank god. They had all left to have some dinner.” he sighed again, “Who would do something like this?”

“I guess the investigators will find out. But what does that mean to the filming schedule?”

“The set was destroyed, so they’ll have to rebuild everything. That means it could be more like three or four months before we can start filming on the set, but it means we’ll be filming on location immediately.” Elly’s heart fell at this. That meant no more time away together. “I’m sorry love. I really wanted us to have some time together.”

Elly put on her brightest smile and said, “That’s all right, hun. We’ll have that two week holiday after you finish filming. We’ll be in Greece having time together then.”

Ben smiled and kissed her lightly, “You’re the best. You know that?”

“Just don’t forget that.”

Ben laughed, started the car, and they headed back to the flat. Elly told Ben to just leave the bags inside the flat door, and she would unpack. He kissed her and left.

Elly unpacked and put away the suitcases. She went to make some dinner for herself. She wouldn’t see much of Ben for the remainder of the filming. After dinner, she decided to sit down and do some writing. She set up her laptop on the kitchen table, put in her headphones, set her mp3 player on shuffle, and set to work. Before long she was engrossed in writing her story and forgot about time. She was in a different world. She didn’t hear her mobile ringing, or the flat door open behind her. There was just an awful smell and then blackness.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ben got home very, very late. When he opened the flat door, he saw the lights on in the kitchen, and then he saw the overturned chair, the smashed laptop on the floor, and the table pushed sideways.

He froze, blinked, swallowed hard, and then turned closed the door and locked it. He walked quietly to the kitchen cupboard, and opened the door of the glass cupboard. He reached in and moved a false panel out of the way. When he pulled his hand out again, he was holding a handgun. He reached in grabbed a couple loaded magazines, loaded one in the gun, and slid the other into his pocket, then he wedged the gun into the belt at the back of his pants, and pulled his jacket over it.

He walked to the living room, and there he saw Elly on the floor, unconscious, with a note taped to her shirt. He quickly looked around the room, and seeing no one else he moved quickly to Elly and checked her pulse. She was fine, just out for awhile. He grabbed the note and looked at it. It said “You’ll be dead in two days if you don’t walk away from her now. Don’t get involved! And don’t make the mistake of thinking you can help her. You can’t.”

Pulling the gun out he quickly checked the rest of the flat. It was empty, thankfully. He knew she wouldn’t stay at the flat when she came to. He picked her up and laid her on the couch, then moved to the bedroom and quickly packed some clothes for both of them. He grabbed her purse, pulled out the wallet, and took out all the cash, and then put her purse back. As an afterthought, he grabbed her Passport, and stuffed it in the inside pocket of his jacket. He came back to the living room. She was still out.

He had to make a decision. He picked up Elly’s mobile and dialled Dr. Strauss’ number. When Dr. Strauss picked up, Ben told him what he had found, and what he was going to do. Dr. Strauss gave him some quick directions, then hung up. He would let Richard know what was happening, and what Ben was going to do. They’d figure something out. Ben ran back to the cupboard reached in and grabbed the remaining items out from their hiding place and quickly zipped them into the inside pocket of his jacket, placing the gun and extra magazine there as well. Then he grabbed the suitcases, put them by the door, made some quick calls, and straightened out the kitchen. He picked up the laptop, and set it on the table. There was a soft knock at the door. He quickly checked through the peephole and seeing that it was Richard, opened the door.

“I got here as quick as I could. Is she still out?”

“Yeah she is. I think they used chloroform. She’ll be out for awhile.”

“Okay we need to move quickly. Lock the place up tight and get the bags in the car. Leave both your mobiles here. I’ll carry her down.”

Ben did as he was told, and Richard emerged a moment later with Elly. They settled her in the passenger seat of the car, and Richard gave Ben the keys, and a large envelope.

“It’s got a full tank. Here’s the address you need to go to. There’s money and more weapons there. There’ll be a mobile there that I’ll contact you on. Once you’re there, I’ll let you know when it’s safe to move again.”

Ben nodded and jumped in the car, and drove away. He quickly found the address of the house, in a quiet neighbourhood, parked the car in the garage, closed the door, and quickly checked the house. He came back grabbed the bags and envelope, and took them in. Then he went back and picked up Elly and carried her into the house. He laid her on the couch deciding it would be better to use as few rooms as possible while there. They probably wouldn’t be there long anyway.

He did a quick search of the house, and behind a false panel in the bedroom found the things Richard mentioned. He took it all out to the living room, and checked the other weapons. There was another handgun just smaller, ammo for that gun as well as more for his own, and a couple foldable knives. There was also a mobile with house and vehicle chargers. There was also a large amount of cash in different currencies. He set aside that stuff and opened the envelope Richard had given him.

Inside he found two sets of completely new I.D. for both he and Elly. He wasn’t sure he could get away with using a fake I.D. He’d be caught for sure. He was too visible. They’d have to move quietly, and through small towns and villages, and through the countryside too. There were credit cards in the name of their new I.D. as well. He quickly tucked them inside hiss jacket pocket, and pulled out his gun and extra magazine and set it with the other weapons.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Elly thought she could hear someone moving around the room, and kept her eyes closed and listened. Someone was sitting close to her. She chanced opening one eye just a bit. It was dark, there were no lights on, and she could see that this was definitely not their house. She could see Ben in the moonlight, sitting close to her, examining some papers with a small flashlight. He looked frustrated, and tired, and …… God he looked scared. She closed her eye again and fought back the panic and fear welling up in her. She lay still listening as Ben quietly rustled through papers, then a small thunk, and then it was quiet. She lay still trying to think what to do. She wondered if Ben had found her papers at the flat. She thought she’d had them hidden well, but maybe not. They weren’t in their flat so where were they. Were they being held against their will? She listened closely, but didn’t hear anyone else.

She heard the buzz of a mobile on the small table in front of her, and she cracked an eye open. Ben grabbed the mobile and quickly left the room. She opened both eyes fully and saw the weapons on the table, her eyes widened. She could hear muffled conversation. Why did Ben have these weapons? What was he going to do? Was he really one of the bad guys? At this thought, she felt a painful jerk in her chest, and realized she was about to cry. She fought it back. She had to keep a level head. She needed to know what was happening? She closed her eyes but kept one cracked open a bit when she heard Ben enter the room again. He set the mobile on the table and quickly threw the weapons into a suitcase close by, and sat nervously waiting. Presently there was a soft knock and she watched Ben quickly moved to the door. There was a quiet, hurried conversation, and then Richard entered the room with Ben behind him.

“Good. So that’s settled then. You and Elly stay here tonight. There’s food in the kitchen. Close the curtains so you can turn lights on. Pack your belongings into these backpacks. There’ll be a different car in the garage. Take it and get out of London. We’ve got a lead on him, so we should be able to catch him. We think he’ll go back to the flat. Wear hats, keep your collars up, and move as quickly as you can. You don’t want to be recognized or seen.”

Ben nodded, “Okay, but what about Elly? She hasn’t woken up yet. What if they gave her too much? I can’t move anywhere if she’s unconscious.”

“Yes that is a problem. If she isn’t awake by morning. Call this number.” he said, handing a paper to Ben. Ben took it, looked at it, and stuffed it in his pocket.

“Okay.”

Elly had heard enough to know that Ben wasn’t a bad guy. She felt rather stupid for even thinking that, but there was still relief flooding her body. She moaned and moved, opening her eyes slowly. Ben was there beside her, looking worried, “Hi love. How are you feeling?”

Elly wrinkled her nose, “Groggy and sluggish.”

Ben looked up at Richard who said, “That’ll be the chloroform. It’ll take a while for the effects to wear off.” Ben was nodding in agreement, as he looked back at her. He brushed some hair back from her face, and said, “We need to know, Elly, who did this to you. Did see him?”

“No”, Elly shook her head lightly, feeling it swim a bit, “I was listening to my mp3 and working on my new book. I didn’t see or hear anything. Just a nasty smell and then blackness.”

“Okay. Well you and Ben are in a safe house. We’re moving you both out of London tomorrow. We’re hoping he won’t be recognized by anyone. You’ll be travelling by vehicle tomorrow. Then you’ll have to travel on foot through the countryside. I brought hiking boots and heavy jumpers for both of you. There’ll be some climbing gear in the vehicle you’ll have tomorrow just in case. Make sure when you leave the vehicle that you take it with you.”

“We will”, Ben said, standing.

Richard left shortly after that, and Ben came and sat with Elly, cupping one cheek with a large hand, “Do you think you can eat anything, love?”

Elly shook her head gently, fighting back a wave of nausea at the motion.

“Alright, love. How about some tea?”  
“Yes that would be lovely”, she smiled. 

Ben nodded and went to the kitchen. Elly must have slept for a bit because suddenly Ben was gently shaking her awake. She opened her eyes to see the cup of tea in his hand. She sat up slowly with his help, feeling another wave of nausea. She swallowed, and took a breath as it subsided. She took the cup. The tea smelled lovely. She sipped and smiled. Yes it was quite lovely. Ben sat beside her and sipped a cup of tea as well. The silence stretched on for a while before Ben cleared his throat, and set the empty cup on the table. Elly did the same with hers, as Ben began to speak, “Listen, love, there’s some things we need to talk about, but I think we should wait until we’re out of London and in the countryside before we do that. Until then can you trust me?”

Elly looked at Ben, “Of course, I trust you hun. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t still be sitting here.” She wasn’t going to think about earlier when she briefly thought he was a bad guy. Ben didn’t need to know that.

Ben smiled, “Alright, we should try and get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

With that they stretched out on the couch on their sides, Ben behind Elly with his arm wrapped protectively around her. She fell asleep quickly.


	6. In Hiding

Previously: Elly looked at Ben, “Of course, I trust you hun. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t still be sitting here.” She wasn’t going to think about earlier when she briefly thought he was a bad guy. Ben didn’t need to know that.

Ben smiled, “Alright, we should try and get some sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

With that they stretched out on the couch on their sides, Ben behind Elly with his arm wrapped protectively around her. She fell asleep quickly.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Elly awoke and blinked. She wasn’t sure what woke her. She lay there listening. She heard it then, the sound of a car. She listened as the garage door opened. She carefully slipped from Ben’s arms, and moved quickly and quietly to the door to the garage and looked through the peephole. She saw Richard and he was signalling to someone she couldn’t see. There was a different car in the garage. So this must be the one they were going to be taking. She continued to watch as Richard got in the drivers side of the car, and the other man turned and she had a good look at him. 

Holy shit that’s……Martin Freeman!

What the hell was going on here. How did he know Richard? But then how did Ben know Richard? He knew when and how to get hold of him, even that he knew of him at all. She watched as they pulled their previous car out of the garage, closed it, and left. All was silent again.

Elly moved to the living room lost in thought. She glanced at Ben. He was still asleep, but he looked cold. She would grab a blanket. She was feeling cold too. That’s when she saw it. There was a piece of paper sticking out of Ben’s jacket pocket. She went over and pulled it out as quietly as she could, trying to keep the crinkling down. She straightened it out and read it. Her mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe it. Ben had received a warning and he hadn’t paid it any heed. He’d stuck by her. But why didn’t he tell her about it. 

She looked at Ben sleeping so peacefully, and looking so young and vulnerable. She loved him so much, and she couldn’t lose him, couldn’t let him risk his life for her. She couldn’t live in a world he was not in. She put the note back in his jacket pocket. When she did so she felt something in the inside pocket and opened it. She pulled out all the items. She saw her passport and some cash, also fake I.D. and, oddly, a second set of fake I.D. Well she figured they were supposed to make a run for it, and had some fake I.D.s to facilitate that run if they needed to. She knew what she had to do then. She had to go after the bad guys herself. She wasn’t going to let Ben risk his life for her. She loved him too much to let him do that. She put the cash and I.D.s back in the pocket.

She stood for a few minutes, and then left the room. She came back with a blanket, then she slid down next to Ben, facing him and covered them both with the blanket. Ben stirred and woke. He smiled sleepily when he saw her. She smiled too.

“I grabbed a blanket for us. Thought it was getting cold.”

“Hmmmm.”

She snuggled in closer to him and cupped his cheek. Then she leaned in and kissed him. It was long and slow and sweet. When they parted, Ben’s eyes were dilated and he was breathing harder. She leaned in again and wrapping her arms around his neck kissed him deeply. He pressed against her, and she could feel his hard need. Her leg slipped over his hip as she moaned and pressed closer. She felt his hand slide under her shirt and caress her skin, sparking delicious shivers of pleasure. She felt his warm hand slide up and caress her breast. She moaned again, her nipples hardening. His fingers teased the sensitive buds through her bra. She wanted to feel skin on skin, show him how much she loved him. His hand slid around to her back and unhooked her bra, and his hand slipped under her bra and caressed first one and the other breast. They both moaned as need took over, and he pushed her bra and shirt up and off. She lifted her arms above her head to allow it. His head bent to her breasts and his warm mouth sucked her nipples, tongue flicking and swirling making her writhe with pleasure. Her fingers wove themselves into his curls, her head was thrown back, her back arching, pressing up against his mouth, little cries of pleasure spilling from her. She was rubbing herself against him, against the hardness she felt in his jeans. She reached down and pulled his shirt off too, cool air sliding across their bodies. Then he was taking her in his arms again, kissing her hotly, parting her lips, their tongues dancing together. Elly pushed Ben back against the back of the couch, both of them on their sides facing each other, and she began sliding down, her fingers trailing over his chest, her mouth following with kisses and nips. Her fingers teased his nipples, making him moan and then she sucked first one hardened into her mouth and the other. She moved back and forth between his nipples as her fingers drifted lower to the waistband of his jeans. She continued sucking the sensitive buds hard, as she undid the button and slid the zipper open. She stroked the warm skin, slowly moving lower until her fingers touched the base of his hardness, and he gasped, as her fingers wrapped around his hot length. Her mouth moved down his body, following the trail her fingers had made moments before. She slowly stroked his hardness, squeezing lightly. She pulled back for a moment, smiling at the whine of protest. Elly pulled Ben’s jeans and pants off, discarding her own jeans and panties as well. Then she was back, her hands and mouth on the length, making him moan. He length throbbed as her mouth sucked hard, tongued swirling around the tip, before taking him all the down to the base again. His hands were in her hair as he gasped and moaned and writhed with pleasure. She slid her other hand between his legs and back, taking his balls in hand, caressing. His hips started moving with the ministrations of her mouth and hands, and then she lid her hand back farther, and pressed his perineum. He cried out, arching his back, his head thrown back, thrusting helplessly into her mouth. Elly let him, continuing to suck hard, bringing him right to the edge, and then she pulled back and slid up her lips taking his in a hard kiss. Ben’s arms wrapped around her and pressed back against the couch cushions, sliding between her thighs. He took her hard and fast making her cry out and arch up against him, taking him deeper, her arms and legs wrapping around him. His cries of pleasure were muffled in her shoulder as he continued to thrust hard and deep. Elly’s cries of pleasure echoed around the room, feeling a heat pooling low down. She was getting close, and Ben could feel it. The way her muscles starting tightening more and more, driving him crazy. He was so close, trying to hold off until she went over the edge. Then she arched her back, pushing up, taking Ben deep, her head thrown back. She came screaming with the intensity of her orgasm, and Ben wasn’t far behind, crying out as he came hard too. They lay still for a few minutes before Ben moved and lay beside Elly, pulling her into his arms. They lay there catching their breath. 

“Wow, that was amazing!“ Ben eventually said.

“Mmmmm”, was all Elly could manage, as she yawned widely.   
Ben chuckled lightly, kissed the top her head, and pulled the blanket over them both. They fell asleep that way.

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Elly woke early. Ben was still sleeping and she knew what she had to do. She slipped from under the blankets, careful not to wake Ben. Grabbed the suitcase, opened it, and quickly pulled on clean panties, a comfortable bra, clean jeans, t-shirt, and socks. She found some paper and a pen and quickly wrote a note for Ben, and left it on the table where he would see it when he woke. She grabbed her sneakers and stuffed them in one of the backpacks along with one change of clothes, and one of the heavy jumpers Richard had brought. She grabbed the pair of hiking boots that were her size, and moved to the kitchen, grabbing some bottles of water and cans of food along with a manual can opener, and a fork, knife, and spoon. She left the pack and boots by the door to the garage, and moved back to the living room. She went into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out some cash, and as an afterthought grabbed some fake I.D. 

She stood and looked at Ben for a moment, trying to memorize his face. She hated doing this to Ben, but she needed to take care of this herself. She had made love with him one last time before she left, knowing it would make him sleep heavily and for a long time. She also wanted something wonderful to remember him by if things didn’t turn out as she hoped they would. Elly went to the table grabbed the smaller handgun, all the ammo, and one folding knife, tucked the knife into her jeans pocket, and the gun and ammo into her jacket pocket. She moved to the door, and grabbed the backpack and her boots slipped quietly out the door.


	7. The Truth However Painful

A/N: This reveals more of Elly’s past and how Ben figures into her life. Hopefully some surprises for everyone. Enjoy!

Previously: She stood and looked at Ben for a moment, trying to memorize his face. She hated doing this to Ben, but she needed to take care of this herself. She had made love with him one last time before she left, knowing it would make him sleep heavily and for a long time. She also wanted something wonderful to remember him by if things didn’t turn out as she hoped they would. Elly went to the table grabbed the smaller handgun, all the ammo, and one folding knife, tucked the knife into her jeans pocket, and the gun and ammo into her jacket pocket. She moved to the door, and grabbed the backpack and her boots slipped quietly out the door. 

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Ben woke slowly, feeling warm and slightly groggy. He smiled as the memory of he and Elly making love came back to him. Then he realized she wasn’t in his arms. He opened his eyes and blinked sleep away, looking around the room. That’s when he saw the small handgun missing. He sat up quickly, panicking.

Oh God no, he thought, Elly.

“Elly?”, he called. He was answered with silence. 

Shit!

He jumped up, and checked the whole house. She was gone, and so was some of the other things. He grabbed clean clothes and quickly dressed, pulled on his jacket, and pocketed the larger handgun and all the ammo for it. Then he quickly dialled Richard told him what happened, and dashed out the door in search of Elly.  
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Elly stood with her hands in the air, breathing heavily, terrified as the two guys emptied her pockets and backpack. They both had masks on, and the taller one grabbed the handgun and was waving it in her face.

“Come on, bitch. Stop holding out on us.”

“I’m not holding out. That’s all I have.”

He swiftly smacked her with the barrel of the gun.

“Don’t lie to me. Where is the rest.”

Elly’s bottom lip started to quiver, tears prickling at her eyes. She swallowed hard, not saying anything, hoping they’d just take the stuff and leave her alone. The tall one smacked her again with the barrel.

“If I have to I’ll beat it out of you”, he growled.

Elly shook her head, opening her mouth to speak, and the shorter one swung his fist, hitting on the cheek. She cried out, her head jerking back with the force of the blow. Before she could collect herself more blows landed on her face, one after another. She fell to the ground, struggled to get up, and was kicked in the ribs. All the air in her lungs escaped and she doubled over, her arms around her middle, fighting to breathe. Then she felt a heavy blow on her head, and she collapsed to the ground. Everything was swimming around her. She heard gunshots. It looked like Martin Freeman with a handgun and a very deadly look on his face. She must be hallucinating. Why would he be here with a gun. Then she blacked out.

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There were voices and bright lights, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Then she blacked out again.

She slowly drifted awake, blinking a few times. She licked dry lips, and saw a white ceiling above her, heard the beeping of a machine. She must be in a hospital. She took a deep breath, and immediately felt a swift jabbing pain in her side, and moaned in pain. She heard movement to her right and then Ben was there, leaning over her, looking relieved.

“Elly, thank god. You’re in St. Bart’s. Try not to move to much, you have some broken ribs.” His large hand cupped her cheek, and he leaned in and lightly kissed her lips. She winced feeling a stab of pain on her bottom lip.

“Sorry you have stitches on your bottom lip. Might have to be careful for a bit.”

Elly pressed her cheek against his palm, and closed her eyes, feeling safe. She remembered the guys robbing her, and opened her eyes again and looked at Ben.

“Ben”, she croaked.

“Ssshhhh, try to relax, love.”

Elly tried again, her voice stronger, “There were two guys…..”

“I know, love. They were robbing you. It’s okay, they’re taken care of now.”

She frowned, wondering how to tell Ben what she thought she saw.

“Ben, just before I passed out I heard gunshots, and I thought…..well, I thought I saw Martin Freeman with a gun.”

She smiled slightly, trying not to stretch the stitches, to show Ben that she thought it was just a foolish hallucination.

“It was me”, came from behind Ben. He stood up looking back over his shoulder, then Elly saw Martin as he moved closer to the edge of the bed.

“Those bastards won’t be doing that again”, he smiled grimly. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore. Thank you for rescuing me.”

“When Ben called, I was close by the house. I found you first.”

Elly swallowed, and then decided to go for it, “I….I thought I saw you earlier….with Richard in the garage.” She stopped, unsure how to proceed.

Ben and Martin were both about to speak when a third voice was heard in the room, “There are some things I think we need to explain to you so that this won’t happen again.”

Elly looked over and saw Richard moving to the other side of her bed. She frowned, confused, as she glanced between Richard, Ben, and Martin.

Richard smiled, “Do you want to rest a little bit first, or would you like me to explain now.”

“I want to hear now”, she said without hesitation, as she glanced between the three of them.

Richard nodded to Ben and Martin, who sat in chairs by the bed, and he took a chair on the other side. She took Ben’s hand in hers and turned to look at Richard, frowning slightly, but expectant as well.

Richard took a deep breath, and looking down at his hands clenched together, he breathed out slowly. Elly swallowed thickly realizing that whatever Richard was about to tell wasn’t going to be good. She reflexively squeezed Ben’s hand tighter. Ben pursed his lips saying nothing. He didn’t know how Elly would react to this news.

Richard looked up and straight at Elly, paused, and then started, “Elly……Ben and Martin are with MI5.” Richard expanded the explanation when he saw the look of confusion on her face. “They work with the government to protect the UK, it’s citizens, and their interests, against the major threats to national security.”

Ben’s stomach clenched as her saw dawning understanding on Elly’s face.

Richard continued, “They are trained agents operating undercover as actors. They sometimes work overseas with MI6 if the threat is international. They can travel freely anywhere in the world as actors either doing a promotional tour for a movie or filming a movie or show. As actors they are highly recognizable but they’re trained to use disguise when necessary. The travelling they can do with their careers as actors allows them access to countries that otherwise would be closed to outsiders. Everybody loves actors”, Richard finished with a sheepish smile.

Elly blinked a few times, processing what Richard had told her. Feeling as if in a dream, she slowly turned her head to look at Ben, her face blank. Ben was pale, waiting for her to say something, anything. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before she could speak, “And what about me, am I just part of your cover?” She felt hurt welling up inside her, turning into hot tears on her cheeks as she looked at Ben.

“No. God No. I love you.” he covered Elly’s hand with his other hand, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, and looking deep into her eyes, “I love you, Elizabeth. I’ve always loved you from the first moment I saw you.”

He was speaking earnestly, and Elly could see the truth of his words in his face. Agent or not, he couldn’t fake the emotions he was showing right now. She wanted to reach out and touch the high cheekbone, kiss those full lips. Richard cleared his throat, breaking the their concentration with one another. He took a deep breath, and said, “There’s more.”

“No”, Ben said, “Let me tell her.”

Ben turned his head then, looking down at their still joined hands, and then up at Elly.

“Elly the first time I saw you, you were cornered by that gunman, and I knew I couldn’t let anything happen to you. You didn’t see me because I was hiding, trying to get a clear shot at him. He kept moving, and then….” Ben was trying to find the right words “He shot you. I saw you fall, and I went mad. I shot him, repeatedly. He was dead, Elly. No way to bring him back.” He swallowed, looking briefly at Richard, then back to Elly, “I didn’t see the other guy who was hiding. He jumped me out of nowhere and knocked me out. We were both found by undercover police…..the covert operations department of the RCMP.”

He looked down at their joined hands again, squeezed her hand reassuringly, then back once again to her face, so blank and devoid of emotion that it scared him. He swallowed down the rising fear and panic. He had to make her see that he loves her no matter what.

“When you were shot, I was horrified. It felt like somehow the world would never be as good without you in it.” he bit his lip, wondering how to tell her the next part. Deciding to just tell her all and hope she understood and forgave, he plowed ahead, “When I woke in hospital, I didn’t want to do the work anymore. I think a part of me died when I saw you shot. I know we hadn’t even met then, but there was just something about you. The first time I saw you I felt like I had finally found a piece of myself I didn’t know was missing.” Ben choked back the tears that were threatening to come, “Richard was there when I woke. He told me that the shot had just grazed the side of your head, and that you would need some time to recover. I told him about the guy who had jumped me. I didn’t see him. While you were still unconscious, someone tried to kill you again. Richard and I decided we had to get you out of there quickly. We decided to involve only our people to minimize risk to you, so we made it look like the perp had succeeded in killing you. We put you on a special jet to take you out of the country to the UK. Richard went with you and stayed by your side to make sure nothing happened to you. I stayed behind and with the help of some other MI5 and MI6 agents, we planted a new identity for you in all the Canadian systems and got some basic ID for you. Richard took you to a safe place to recover. When the doctors told Richard that you were going to have only a fragmented memory of what happened and what that would do to you mentally, it was decided to have that part of your memory suppressed until it could come back fully. Richard decided it was best if you didn’t know about him until your memories came back. Dr. Strauss is one of our people, he is a doctor for the agency. He was one of the doctors who was there during your surgeries. He looks after your well being all around. He would know when your memories started breaking through.” 

He brought one hand up to her cheek, “Elly I do love you.”

Richard stood and walked closer to the bed, “Elly do you remember what the other gunmen looked like?”

She felt like she was in a dream. She slowly nodded her head, looking from Richard to Ben and back again, “He was……he … was … my … husband.” She swallowed, and closed her eyes, feeling grief and heartbreak crashing over her, afraid to look at Ben. She didn’t want to see the look on his face. “That’s why he’s ….. the second man is so determined to find me.” She took a deep breath, opening her eyes to look at their still joined hands, “He won’t stop until he kills me.”

She watched, with a deep ache in her chest, as Ben’s hands let go of her. Then she felt them on each side of her face, tilting her head up so he could look her in the eyes. She sniffled, looking at the gorgeous man for what she felt would surely be the last time. When he smiled, she froze, trying not to feel too much hope. When he spoke, it was gently, almost teasing.

“Elly I knew your whole identity when we started following you. Even though you didn’t know it, you led us to your husband and brother. We knew…..I knew that you were trying to get away from them both, to start a new life. We helped you with that.”

“Oh”, popped out of her mouth before she realized she was saying it. She blinked, then smiled and flung arms around Ben’s neck hugging the life out of him. She could hear Ben chuckling softly, then pressed his face into her neck, breathing deeply. He did that so often. Then she pulled back and looked at Martin who had been sitting so quietly all this time, “So that was really you saving my life…..”

Martin stood, smiling, as he walked over to the bed, “Yes it was.”

He looked at Ben briefly then back at Elly, “Ben left active duty after you were shot. He blames himself for not being fast enough, and for not seeing the other gunmen either.” He glanced at Richard then back to Elly, “Do you remember everything now?”

“Yes”, she said, slowly, “the one who shot me was my brother. The one who jumped Ben was my husband. He’s coming after me now because”, she looked at Ben, “you stopped them both. He determined to kill me now because I can identify them both. I can tell my story and have him put away for a very, very long time. He also wants to hurt you, Ben, because you took me away from him too.”

“We will need to keep you and Ben safe, and capture your husband”, Richard said as he stood.

He looked at Martin, we need more agents to scour London and find her husband.” He looked at Elly, “What’s his name?”

“John ….. John Ginthers.”

He nodded and looked to Martin, “We need to find John Ginthers, but we need to look do it quietly. Martin I want you to stay here and watch over Ben and Elly until we can safely move them to the safe place we discussed earlier.”

Martin nodded, and Richard left the room. Then he looked to Ben and Elly, “do you two need some private time?”

Ben nodded, “We have some things to discuss?”

Martin smiled, and briskly moved to the door, then turned and said, “I’ll be standing outside keeping guard.” Then he was through the door and closing it quietly.

Ben turned to Elly, expectantly, “I assume you have questions?”

Elly licked her lips, looking around the room, thinking, then she said, “so you know what I looked like before, and you know how old I am.” She paused, and he nodded, then she continued, “And you still love me despite this?”

Ben smiled at her fondly, “I knew you were the person for me the moment I laid eyes on you. I watched you for nearly a month and got to know who you were. You are a sweet, kind woman, Elly, who got caught up in something that you couldn’t get away from. Since living with you, I see that you are a warm and lovely person.”

“So what about how we met? Was it really accidental, or was that engineered too.” Not quite sure why she needed to know this.

“No. That really was accidental. I had intended to leave you be and let you find someone else, but when I bumped into that day at the Cheltenham Festival, I knew I couldn’t let you go. I only had the advantage of knowing your past.”

“Did…..did you have anything to do with the changes that were made to my appearance?”

“No that was all Dr. Strauss. He believed it was necessary to change your whole appearance to keep your husband off your trail. It was Martin who showed me a picture of you after the surgeries. He didn’t know then that I was already falling in love with you. When we met I wanted to keep you all to myself. Richard decided to let us continue to see each other because he knew you would be safe with me. I really am off active duty and just working as an actor now.”

Elly sighed and reaching up, took Ben’s face in her hands and kissed him thoroughly, ignoring the sting in her lip. When they finally parted, they were both breathing heavily. A nurse came in the door then, “Well now. It’s good to see you feeling better.” She smiled, as Elly laughed and hugged Ben tightly. She reluctantly let him go so the nurse could take her vitals, then she quickly slipped her arms around him again. She knew somehow that they would make it through this and then they would have the rest of their lives together. She did have some questions for Dr. Strauss though, but that could wait for now. She smiled, happy to have the love of such an amazing man. There would be questions she would need to ask him later as well.


	8. Love Conquers All

A/N: Well this is the last chapter. Thank you guys so much for staying with the story, and thank you for the reviews and kudos.

Previously: Elly sighed and reaching up, took Ben’s face in her hands and kissed him thoroughly, ignoring the sting in her lip. When they finally parted, they were both breathing heavily. A nurse came in the door then, “Well now. It’s good to see you feeling better.” She smiled, as Elly laughed and hugged Ben tightly. She reluctantly let him go so the nurse could take her vitals, then she quickly slipped her arms around him again. She knew somehow that they would make it through this and then they would have the rest of their lives together. She did have some questions for Dr. Strauss though, but that could wait for now. She smiled, happy to have the love of such an amazing man. There would be questions she would need to ask him later as well.

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Ben stood in the doorway, watching Elly sleep. His heart ached for her, to see her so beaten up. He had requested that all the mirrors be taken out of the safe house before they arrived. He didn’t want Elly to see her face until she was better. He sighed and turned, going back to the living room. Martin and Richard had been talking and stopped when he entered the room. He looked at them both for a moment, and then making up his mind he spoke, “I want to help hunt this bastard down.”

Martin and Richard looked surprised. Richard spoke, “Ben, are you sure? This Ginthers guy will be gunning for you too.”

Ben smiled, “Exactly. Use me as the bait, and we’ll flush him out. He’ll come after me if he thinks Elly is with me. He doesn’t know about her injuries. We keep her safe here, but let Ginthers think that she’s with me at the house.”

Richard turned to Martin, “It could work.”

Martin, always cautious, said, “We should make sure Elly’s under heavy guard here, just in case.”

“No, please don’t Ben. I couldn’t stand it if I lost you.”

They all turned at Elly’s anguished pronouncement. She stood teetering precariously in the doorway. Ben rushed over, “Elly, you shouldn’t be out of bed” and he gently took her in his arms and carried her back to bed. Elly buried her nose in Ben’s neck, closing her eyes, fighting against the fear and horror trying to well up in her.

Ben laid her gently on the bed, and pulled the blankets up. He watched the hot tears sliding down her cheeks, wanting to give in, but knowing he had to be there and be sure the bastard was gone for good. He didn’t say so but he knew that Richard and Martin knew that he was going to make sure that Ginthers was dead this time. He looked at Elly, and said, “I need to be there, love. He won’t show unless he thinks we’re both there.”

Elly sniffled, “Ben, I love you so much, and I can’t live without you. I’m so scared that he’ll succeed in taking you away from me.”

“Don’t worry. There’ll be agents there with me, out of sight. He won’t touch me.” Then as added persuasion he said, “I promise.” He touched her cheek, looking at her and smiling, then bent and kissed her.

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak again. She felt apprehensive about this whole thing. She kept thinking that it would all go horribly wrong. She knew her husband (check that, ex-husband) better than them. He was far smarter than they were apparently giving him credit for.

“Please, be careful, Ben. He’s not your average criminal. He’s smarter than you think.”

“I know, love. You may remember I watched him for months before we made our move. We’re going to have lots of guards here too, just in case.”

Elly felt a little relief at that. Of course, Ben would know him. She’d forgotten that already, but something kept gnawing at her. She couldn’t place it, but chose to let Ben do as he so clearly needed to do for her, for them.

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Ben entered the house cautiously, and moved slowly looking for any signs that someone was there. Richard, Martin, and several other agents following behind him. They fanned out and thoroughly searched the whole house. Ben showed them the door to the rooftop garden and a few agents moved to the roof to take position there and let them know when they were in position. Richard, Martin, and the rest of the agents hid in other rooms. Ben settled on the couch to wait.

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Elly felt a presence in the room, and opened her eyes. It was dark, quite late she thought. There was a shadow in the doorway of the room. The shadow moved slowly into the room, and she felt fear choke in her throat.

Oh God, how did he find her? How did he get in?

Her mind was screaming for Ben. She watched an arm come up, and she saw the flashing metal in the hand. She knew she was dead, and all she could do was think about Ben, wished that he was there with her now. She felt a scream pushing through the knot in her throat, but it came out as a helpless whimper. 

“So the minute I turn my back you shack up with that actor. I should have known you were going to do that someday, you slut”, John Ginthers said venomously.

“No, John. I didn’t know him then. That happened later after….”

“After he shot your brother. Do you even care about him?”

Elly’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly. She didn’t know what to say to that.

“You shacked up with the guy who killed your brother. You have no heart at all. You’re just an ice cold bitch. Well you can have all eternity to make amends for that. You’ll be joining your precious boyfriend in hell.”

Then he aimed the gun at her, and she closed her eyes. She couldn’t even scream. She heard a loud shot, making her ears ring, deafening her momentarily. Then there was blackness.

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There was a voice frantically calling her name. It sounded familiar. She frowned, trying to place it. Then she heard other voices. Lots of them. She moaned, and opened her eyes, squinting at all the lights on in the room. It was Ben. He was leaning over her. He looked terrified.

“Oh thank god, Elly. Are you hurt?”

She frowned again, concentrating on her body. No there was no new pain, just the same pains she had from her previous injuries. She looked at Ben, shaking her head, “No just the usual ones.”

He sagged in relief, hugging her, trying to be gentle. He was so bloody relieved.

“God I love you, Elly.”

“I love you, too, Ben. So much it scares me sometimes.”

He smiled, and laying gently back on the bed, he kissed her.

“Well, well, had some excitement did we?”, came the cheerful voice of Dr. Strauss as he entered the room. He shooed everyone out so he could look Elly over.

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It was a few days later. Ben and Elly were sitting in the garden at Martin and Amanda’s house. Richard was there too. They were staying at this house while theirs was being renovated. Ben had, with Elly’s wholehearted agreement, bought the house he had been looking at for his friend, Tom. Tom was overwhelmed and insisted that he would pay Ben back for the house. Elly knew that Ben would find some way of making sure the Tom didn’t get the chance to pay him.

“So the last thing I remember is John aiming a gun at me. I closed my eyes, and heard a gunshot. I didn’t feel anything, and as I know now, didn’t get shot. But what actually happened”, Elly said.

Ben started, “Well, we had been waiting at the house for him and he wasn’t showing. Martin…”

“I had a bad feeling that you were going to be the first target,” Martin interrupted, “I quietly left your house and went back over to the safe house, and saw him sneaking in. The agents were preoccupied talking in the kitchen, and didn’t see him sneaking in. I quickly followed and was behind him when he raised the gun to shoot you. I shot him first, but he had managed to get a shot off anyways.”

Richard took up the story from there, “I got the call from Martin moments later. I told the other agents to stay in place at your house and I told Ben what had happened. He was…..”

“I was beside myself with worry. You were unconscious and we didn’t know if you were hurt or not. I was so scared I’d lost you.” He took Elly’s hands in his and held them as he looked at her with so much love it was overwhelming for her. She smiled, “I think I must have passed out from all the tension. It was probably too much for my body to handle.”

“Yes it certainly must have been”, Ben said, “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you, love.”

“Well I am glad that Martin figured out what was happening so quickly”, she turned to Martin, “Thank you for saving my life again.”

“So if he did get a shot off where did the bullet go” asked Amanda, curiously.

“It went into the wall by her head”, Ben said, “It scared me how close he had come to killing Elly.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly.

“And I couldn’t let the love of Ben’s life be killed. I would never have forgiven myself”, put in Martin.

“I wouldn’t have forgiven myself for not being there for Elly”, Ben chimed in.

“Well it was for the best that an active agent shot him. It might have been a bit messy if you had, Ben”, Martin said.

Ben nodded his head, “Yes you’re right, of course. I’m glad that you were there to save Elly.”

“It was my job”, Martin quipped.

Ben looked at him with a funny expression then. He raised an eyebrow at Martin, “Was?”

Amanda smiled, grabbing Martin’s arm and pulling him close, “Yes, he’s decided to retire from active service too. He’s going to focus on acting now. And our family, of course.”

Martin smiled at her, laying his hand over hers, “Yes, I should have done that a long time ago.”

“Well I am glad that you’ve retired now”, Amanda said, smiling back.

Just then their children came running over, grabbing their hands and insisting that they had to come and look at the bird’s nest they found. Amanda and Martin got up and followed them off to the other end of the back yard.

“I think it’s time for you to get some rest, love. No more excitement for today”, Ben said, standing to help Elly out of her chair.

“I should be getting back to the office”, Richard said as he too stood.

When they said their goodbyes to Richard, Ben helped Elly into the house and onto the bed in their temporary bedroom.

As Ben was pulling a blanket over Elly, she turned to Ben and said, “Ben?”

“Hmmm?” he hummed distractedly, concentrating on the blanket he was pulling over her.

She grabbed his hand, and he stilled looking at her, “I….I want you to know that I don’t resent you for shooting my brother. He was a very bad man, and he was ready to kill me without a second thought.”

Ben’s expression softened at her words. She went on, “but I am also glad that you didn’t shoot John. Oh don’t get me wrong”, she said at his frown, “he was a bad man too. But Martin was right. It could have been messy if it was you who had shot him. Besides, I couldn’t have stood it if you were that close to him. He could have sensed you behind him and just as easily shot you.”

Ben sat on the edge of the bed, still holding Elly’s hand, “It’s not good to dwell on ‘could have beens’, love. You could drive yourself crazy thinking about that.”

“I know I should forget about it, but I can’t help stray thoughts filtering into my mind.”

“Just push them out again when they do. If you really have a difficult time with that it might be a good idea to talk with a therapist, might be a good idea anyway, considering what you’ve been through.”

“Yes you’re probably right. I’ll look into it if the thoughts don’t go away in a few days.”

Ben nodded, getting up. Just then there was a soft knock on the door. Ben and Elly turned to the door to see Amanda in the doorway.

“Hey Elly I’ve got some stuff from the drug store for you. I wanted to show you and see if there was anything I forgot.”

“And that is my cue to leave”, Ben said, smiling and heading for the door.

Elly and Amanda both giggled as he left the room and closed the door behind him, then Amanda said, “I got that test you wanted.”

“Oh good. Help me to the bathroom. I want to try it right away.”

A few minutes later, Ben saw Amanda exiting the house into the back yard again, smiling to herself. He wondered briefly why.

Martin and Amanda rounded up their children and herded them into the house to get them ready for bed, the children protesting that they weren’t tired while they yawned. Ben smiled to himself. He would love to have that some day.

He decided to go check on Elly. She was lying in bed with her nighty on. Amanda must have helped her with that. He yawned, realizing that he was tired as well. He briefly thought about finding Martin and Amanda and saying good night, but quickly put that aside knowing that they would be busy getting their children to bed. He closed the bedroom door, undressed, leaving just his silk boxers on, and crawled into bed trying to be careful, not wanting to jostle Elly too much. He had just laid his head on the pillow when Elly turned her head and said softly, “Ben?”

His lifted his head pushing up on his arm to look at Elly, “You should be sleeping, love.”

Continuing to look at him she said, pleadingly, “Kiss me”.

Ben hesitated for a moment and then leaned down and kissed her lightly. Just as he was pulling back, her hand came up, fingers weaving into his hair, and pulled him back down into a soft, deep kiss. Ben allowed it for a moment, then tried to pull back. Elly’s hand pulled him back, “Please, Ben”, she moaned, “I need you.”

“Elly you have broken ribs, I could hurt you.”

“Help me up Ben.”

He helped her up, and she moved to her knees on the bed. She reached out and pulled him to her. He moved to his knees, and she pressed against him, kissing him deeply. When they broke the kiss, Ben moaned, “Elly, we can’t….” She didn’t give him a chance to finish. She claimed his lips in another deep kiss. With his hands on her hips, he slowly sat back on his heels, and pulled her forward so that she was straddling him.

“Ben”, she moaned, breathlessly, as she felt his hard need pressing against her through his boxers. His hands slid up gently over her bandaged ribs to caress her breasts, tweaking the sensitive buds, as she moaned. One of her hands slid down over his bare chest, teasing his nipples until they were hard buds. She wanted this, needed Ben so badly. She slid her hand down to caress his leaking erection, and he moaned at her touch. He was so hard already. She starting pulling at the waistband of his boxers, and he obliged, moving Elly back off his lap and up onto his knees, pulling his boxers off. Then he reached for Elly again, pulling her once again to straddle him. He slid her nighty up over her head, and then he ducked his head to capture first one nipple and then the other in his mouth, sucking hard, tongue flicking the buds until she was going crazy.

Then he lifted her a little and she came down on his hot, aching hardness, making Elly gasp with pleasure. “Oh god, Ben.” He moved slowly, gently, her head fell back, mouth open as she gasped at the incredible pleasure searing through her. She could hear Ben’s moans muffled in her neck. They moved slowly, the pleasure building and building until they were both shaking, gasping at the intensity of the pleasure, moaning and desperately trying to be quiet. Then Elly was coming so hard there was white spots sparkling at the edge of her vision, her inner muscles tightening around his hard cock, her gasps and moans muffled in his shoulder. Ben lifted her slightly and drove into her deep exploding into an intense orgasm, making his whole body shake. They stayed like that for a few moments as the waves of pleasure subsided, then Ben slowly pulled out of her, and gently laid her down. He moved to lay beside her, both still catching their breath.

“That was amazing”, Elly slurred slightly, already falling asleep. Ben smiled and hummed, taking her hand in his, and closed his eyes, falling asleep too.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

A couple weeks later, Elly and Ben were sitting in Dr. Strauss’ office. The doctor stepped into the office closing the door behind him and sat at his desk.

“Well it looks you healed up nicely”, he said to Elly.

Ben breathed a sigh of relief, not realizing he’d been holding his breath.

“Well that’s good”, they both said at the same time.

“You may be healed, my dear, but you will have to careful for a while. Let the bones mend some more before you try doing anything too rambunctious.”

“Oh don’t worry doc. I plan on relaxing for a while.”

“Good. Well is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about while you’re here?”

Elly licked her lips and looked at Dr. Strauss. She had questions and now was as good a time as any. Dr. Strauss, sensing her oncoming questions, looked at her expectantly.

“Dr. Strauss, I was wondering about that hormone shot I get.” Elly glanced sideways at Ben. He stayed quiet. She continued, “I was wondering if there are any side effects I should know about, and am I still going to be getting those shots.”

“Hmmm, good question. You will have to continue to have those shots for the rest of your life. It would be too much stress on your body to stop. As for the side effects, I can’t say there isn’t any, but it really differs with each individual. Was there something specific you had in mind.”

Elly licked her lips, glancing sideways at Ben, and back to the doctor. 

“Yes I understand that it makes all your organs young again too. So I was wondering……” she swallowed,”…well, I was wondering if it was possible for me to have babies, healthy babies.”

She could see Ben was looking at her out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t turn her head, but kept looking at Dr. Strauss.

The doctor smiled, “In your case, yes with your natural age and the enhanced youth of the injection, you can have perfectly healthy babies. It won’t hurt to continue with the shots throughout a pregnancy. You can have several children if you want. You have all the vitality and health of youth. You will have to get used to thinking of yourself as being young again. You will continue to see me, so I can monitor you. If you’re wanting children, I can help you with that as well.”

He paused. “You are a 34 year old woman now. You can do all the things that someone that age can do.”

Elly breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you doctor. I really appreciate that.”

Dr. Strauss nodded and smiled, “Anything else?”

“No…no that was it.” Elly stood, Ben standing with her, putting his arm around her lightly in case she needed help. They shook hands with the doctor, thanking him for his time, and left the office.

They drove all the way home without Ben asking her about her questions. They were in their newly renovated house now. 

Ben and Elly sat in their rooftop garden. Elly was looking around. She loved this garden, she and Ben spent hours up here. She hadn’t noticed how silent Ben had been until he spoke.

“You really want children with me?”

“Yes I do. As a matter of fact…..”, she bit her lip. Ben looked at her inquiringly. “Um, well I think I might be pregnant already.”

Ben looked shocked for a moment and then he said, “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I had Amanda grab a pregnancy test from a drug store for me, when we were staying at their house. When you headed outside again, I used it.” She paused, looking at Ben, “I’m six weeks pregnant.”

Ben’s face broke into an ear to ear grin as he whooped and hauled Elly out of her chair, hugging the life out of her. She giggled, holding onto his shoulders as he swung her around.

Ben felt like the happiest man on earth. His beautiful Elly was having his baby. They would have a big, beautiful family together. What could be better than that.


End file.
